Darkest before dawn
by KatofDresden
Summary: Once Upon a time Pacific Rim AU. Henry finds Emma and takes her to fight monsters in Jaegers. She never thought she would ever be drift compatible again but when she meets a tall, dark, handsome stranger... things may change. Captain Swan and and Frankenwolf as main pairings/characters. And lots of people bonding.
1. Chapter 1

They had fought as one.

The boy had found her many years later.

When Emma had already given up. She'd had given up on many things, on love, on family, on the hope that they could ever win this fight. The monsters kept coming and the pilots were now fewr than ever. Emma didn't care, she had stopped thinking about that long ago. She'd been a good pilot, long ago, so long ago. When Graham was still alive and they fought together. The good ol' times.

When there were casualties on the fight usually both pilots died. Emma sometimes wishes she'd been that lucky. He was forever in his head, his thoughts from when they drifted. And she'd had enough. She was supposed to be retired for good, but for some reason she couldn't say no to this boy. Maybe because it was the age the boy she had would have, or did, wherever he was living. She'd given up the boy shortly after he was born and never knew what became of him. And this boy did look a bit like Neal, didn't he?

NO.

This was just her imagination.

She had agreed because she knew that they were very short handed, specially after the royal couple had died. (Mary Margaret and David, they were the most popular of pilots, so nice and married and charming. And they were gone now, they who had been the leaders of all). It had been a terrible blow, after so many others in the past (Mulan and Aurora, Ashley and Thomas, so many people...) and the spirits were quite low. It felt like they were very few people and they weren't strong enough to fight all the monsters. What they did have were Jaegers, so the next days there were going to test everyone to see if they could prepare some more pilots to stand in the place of those who had died. That's where Emma came in.

"You ready for your welcome tour?" The kid, Henry, said.

Emma nodded as she entered the huge place where the resistance worked and lived. A big place with giant robots, rooms, research places, offices and so much more.

"I'm going to go introducing you to the people, ok? They are the most important thing that we have stored here." Emma smiled. She liked the spirit of this kid. "And besides, I guess that the rest

"The main moneymaker of this place, our means of financial support is that guy in the picture, Mr. Gold. The lady next to him is our main researcher, Belle. She used to work for him before they got involved. And behind them is the Beauty and the beast, their Jaeger."

The robot from the picture, was Golden, too. So bright. Then Henry pointed at a young brunette with bright blue eyes sipping tea.

"That guy there with the colourful clothes, that's Jefferson. He helps with the Jaegers and makes hats."

"Why?" Henry just shrugged.

"I don't know. We stopped questioning the hats long ago, you get used to it. Thing is, he's fought a couple of times on a Jaeger called _Top Hat_ with his daughter Grace and they were crazy good."

"His daughter? When did we have her, when he was fifteen?"

"Something like that, I guess. We don't know much about their life before here, or where's the mother. Grace's my age, really cool girl to have around. But that's the main problem, she's too young and Jefferson is looking for someone else, to avoid putting her in all that danger."

The man held out his cup of tea to them as a greeting. He seemed nice, if a little...eccentric, at least. They kept walking until they arrived at a big metal door.

"This is the lab, we have parts of Jaegers, parts of monsters, lots of research...If you're into science, this is the place. Also the land of our resident scientist and medical doctor, Victor Frankenstein."

That sounded familiar.

"Wasn't there a Jaeger called… something of Frankenstein?" Back in her day. Long ago. European condescending stuck-ups.

"You knew them? That was Victor's dad and younger brother, in the Pride of Frankenstein. But don't mention them in front of him." Weird.

"Why not?"

"It ended badly. Gerhardt, that was his brother, nearly died in a mission and Victor brought him back with some experimental medical stuff… but he had some brain damage, became erratic... Something bad. Thing is, the father called him a disgrace, disowned him and then died. So now the father's dead, the brother is locked up in some asylum and Victor blames himself for everything."

"Sounds though."

"Yeah, there was a suicide attempt and all. But, luckily for him and us, Ruby saved him."

"Another pilot?" Henry drew an enigmatic smile. Ruby was too complicated to explain in one word, even one sentence.

"Not exactly. She works in the canteen but wanted more and did all the tests and preparation to become pilot. Everything was prepared for the first drift but then, her boyfriend, who was going to pilot with her, disappeared. Just vanished, no trace. It's been years and we still don't know what happened."

"Mysterious."

Henry smiled while they kept walking. It was a very big place that, even bigger than Emma's old Headquarters in Boston. She'd grown used to it, the big rooms, the giant robots, the pilots alking about. Big grey place to eat, standard small room to sleep. Maybe she could go back to it, to the life of a pilot, even if it had been many years since she stopped fighting. But maybe this was the perfect chance to start over, forget the pain from the past and make some good.

Even if it didn't work out, this changed her routine a bit, helped her get out of her head. A change of scenery always helped see things from a different perspective, sort out one's priorities. Yes, this could be good. The Saviour, back in the field. Although she probably didn't get as far as "the field" because finding someone that was drift compatible sounded almost impossible. Nah, completely impossible.

Henry took showed her how the things worked, where were the main facilities and where was her room. It was fairly similar to her old HQ so she found her way pretty easily around.  
After having a light dinner when it was dark and everybody was sleeping, Emma took a night stroll, to become more familiar with the place. It was kind of beautiful, all dark and deserted. And these people, these weird people were doing a lot of good. And they all had tragedies, like her, they all knew pain.

Emma found herself in front of an enormous black Jaeger with an anachronic look about it. It looked old and some parts even made like they were made of wood. But it was dashing, too, in its outdated style.

"Beautiful."

"Thank you." A low whispering voice said to her. "A bit of a marvel, isn't it?"

Emma looked and saw a tall man, dark hair and blue eyes, all dressed in black.

"You made this?" Emma asked, surprised." What's its name?"

"The Jolly Roger. It used to be The Jewel of the realm, but..."

There was grief written in the man's blue eyes. A grief she knew perfectly well.

"Someone died?"

"Aye." The stranger said. "My brother Liam. I haven't piloted ever since."

"Me neither." Emma admitted. She wasn't usually this open with strangers, but...

"Who did you lose?"

"His name was Graham. He was a good man, taken too soon."

There was a small companionable silence while they stared at the giant robot in front of them. The Jolly Roger. There was something different about this Jaeger, unlike the gold one she'd seen that morning, unlike the rest. It was darker, it seemed to even be on another side of the fight.

The stranger offered Emma some rum and she gladly took it. All of this brought back many memories, some good, some not so good. The rum was strong, but good. When returning the flask Emma suddenly noticed that the man only had one hand. Odd. Had he done all this with just one hand? Had he lost his hand the same day he lost his brother? She wanted to ask, but she didn't know this man. He just kept quiet, sipping his rum.

After a little while, the stranger started to leave.

"Hey, I never caught your name." Emma asked.

"Killian, Killian Jones. And you, love?"

"Emma Swan."

"Pleasure to meet you, Miss Swan. Hope to see you around."


	2. Chapter 2

Belle was looking for volunteers everywhere, even under the rocks it seemed. Since they had lost Mary Margaret and David, they had lost their visible faces, and a lot people had lost hope. They were testing every worker and former pilot that they had and Henry had even brought some new people, but they were seriously understaffed. And of course, most of the workers and volunteers weren't going to qualify - Belle would be lucky if she got two or three decent couples that day.

Killian Jones eyed her dangerously. He was a good pilot, one of the best, but his grief for his brother and his desire for revenge against her husband. He'd been a good soldier, but had become much more darker after Milah died. Still, if they found someone for him... No. That was impossible. Thanks to her husband, Killian had only one hand now, and as skilled as he was Belle doubted he would be as good as he was one-handed.

But he was looking around with such determination... Rumple wasn't going to like it, if they had to fight together. Wy was everything so complicated?

While Belle was looking for more people, Ruby was going to section 15, a place she thought was deserted. But it was her birthday that day and Victor had told her that he had a surprise, so she went gladly. They had become friends, the scientist and her, since that fateful day when she saved his life. Sometimes they just commented the Jaegers and gossiped, other times they got deeper and talked about the nightmares that haunted them at night.

They had grown close, maybe excessively so. They talked, they laughed, sometimes cried, they spent a lot of time together while the rest of them were out, or training whatever people who save the world do. They'd become important for each other - been there in hard times and harder ones. so she was really excited to see what was that surprise he had for her. It was something bigger than she could have ever imagined.

It was the coolest Jaeger she had ever seen. Bright red, with small black and brown parts. One of the arms ended in metallic claws and the other had a huge crossbow in it. Ruby felt that she was in some way seeing herself in giant robot form. Like a translation of herself. There was something about it, something in its forms, something in the way the robot looked at the world that somehow reflected the both sides of who she was, the one everyone saw and the more dangerous one she kept hidden.

"Happy birthday, Ruby!"

Ruby didn't answer, still taking in that metallic monster in front of her.

"Do you like it?"

"Victor... you built a Jaeger for me?"

"Yeah, well you told me that you were going to try and when I heard that the tests coincided with your birthday, I thought that maybe I could fix an old one from the storage, change it a bit so it would suit you."

Ruby circled the whole thing, still not believing.

"Does it have a name?"

"Well, it's for you, so you can pick the name." Victor said, uncertain. What if she didn't like it? She hadn't said she liked it. Maybe she hated it. "But I've been calling it Red Wolf. You... you like it?"  
She threw herself into the arms of the scientist, pulling him in a tight embrace. They stayed like that for a while and Victor smiled. Apparently, she did like it.

"This is the single nicest thing anyone had ever done for me. It's really lovely, Victor."

And then his smile grew even bigger and he started explaining the sciency bits of the robot to her. How the claws worked and how they had some neurotoxic poison thingy. How it had a pannel that gave it an energy boost with the moonlight.

"I thought if you were going to the field, it was best to have a Jaeger that... understood you."

"I'm just going to try, you know? There's no guarantee that I'll find someone compatible."

"Im sure you will, birthday girl."

She looked at the robot again.

"This is the best birthday present ever." She said. "Now you've ruined me for all the rest of presents today."

"I'm not even sorry." He smiled.

And that was the moment. The moment when Ruby realised she was in love with that man. What a stupid feeling.

Emma woke up feeling extremely energetic and ready to fight. She wanted fights one on one, she wanted to do all those memory and coordination games, she wanted to beat all those newbies how it was done. Teach them a lesson, remind them how it was done. Maybe punch some noses. Yes, it was gonna be Emma-time in Storybrooke.

She looked around for th guy from the previous night but couldn't find him. She hadn't even known if he would try again but he'd seemed interesting. Anyways, time to kick some ass.

She went there and shone, just like she hoped she would. There was only one problem.

IT.

WAS.

SO.

FUCKING.

EASY.

She could take down people in mere minutes and none of them offered any challenge. It was almost... boring. She should have known. She was an experienced pilots with many years of experience and some of these people were just workers trying the tests "just in case". The difference was too big.

Mildly disappointed, she went to lunch with Henry who told her some gossip. Apparently, his mother, who has some kind of big authority in there had tried out too and had been found compatible with a fugitive thief they'd been harbouring. Go figure. Also, Mr. Gold was strangely absent from the try-outs (which was really strange according to Henry as he was usually very present - everywhere) and it was Ruby's birthday.

Emma couldn't help asking the kid about the story of her mystery visitor from the previous night.

"The Jones brothers, yeah, they fought when I was a kid."

"You're still a kid."

"You know what I mean. But Killian was with Gold's ex and things got pretty ugly. Then Killian's brother Liam died poisoned by something and some time later Milah died too and Killian blamed Gold, cried for vengeance. Things have been pretty tense and Killian became almost a recluse. He's nice, even if likes cheating and you know, he's a bit shady."

"But you trust him."

(And Emma trusted this kid's judgement, even if she'd only known him for a couple of days. More than she could explain.)

"More than gold, yeah."

Then they went over to the birthday girl - one of the very few people she remembered of the men and women she fought. She was fierce and motivated, but her lack of experience was obvious. Still, she put up a decent fight.

"Hey, I'm Emma. Sorry about before, I didn't know it was your birthday."

"Don't be. You are another level, lady. The legendary Saviour. It was an honour to have my ass kicked by you. And besides, I kicked some ass too, so it was nice."  
"I wish everyone took it that well." Emma said, trying to ignore the dirty looks she'd been getting all day. Apparently, she'd hurt some prides.

Henry gave Ruby some chocolates as a gift and she told them about the Red Wolf, how it had a lot features based on her and repeating just how cool and sciency it was.

"That's some grand romantic gesture." Emma said.

"He took what I don't like about myself and made it cool weapons on an even cooler robot. And made sure he got it ready for my birthday. Who does that?"

A man in love, Emma thought. Graham liked them too, the romantic gestures, even if she hadn't reciprocated all that much. Even Neal, at the start, so long ago that she hardly remembered anymore. And he'd managed to spoil that and shatter her idea of love, her ability to trust. But this woman right there, it sounded like she had something important: not just a partner who loved her, but a partner who admired her.

"Sounds like a keeper."

"Oh, Ruby and Victor are not together." Henry clarified. "They're just friends. Friends who are so in love with each other it's ridiculous, but won't do anything about it."

She punched him the shoulder.

"That's not true! Well, maybe a little bit... But I... he isn't..." Emma interrupted her, amused.

"That man built a giant robot for you. In your honor. I think he doesn't feel the same way is out of the question."

"They're not together because he doesn't think he deserves her and she is afraid of hurting him. But you are hurting yourselves more by not admiting, I think."

"Hey! That's not... We aren't... We're just friends, okay? Nothing wrong with being friends with a good-looking man who makes robots for his friends."

"Whatever you say, Red."

Ruby thought about Henry said, though, and how painfully accurate that was. The first part, at least. She was afraid of hurting Victor if things progressed. Afraid of him ending up like... No. Best not to think about that. It was her birthday.

"When did you get so wise, kid?" She said, trying to change the subject.

They parted ways soon after, Ruby leaving to enjoy the rest of her birthday with friends. Although there weren't many of them left.

There was a racket on the main hall and Emma and Henry went there to check it out.

There were voices talking, voices fighting, that were getting clearer as they approached. Emma recognised one of them, one that had sounded soft and husky yesterday but it forceful and angry now. The man from the Jolly Roger.

"If I am so useless then why won't let me try, huh?"

"You're a liability. You'd use the Jaeger to get revenge on me, on all of us for the people you lost. You're a criminal, Jones, you may have been someone but now you're nothing but scum."

"And what are you exactly, Crocodile?" Killian said, narrowing his eyes and getting way too close to the other man.

Gold seemed about to murder someone when Belle stepped in and got in the middle of them, throwing a sharp look at her husband.

"We've talked about this."

"He wants to pilot! He'll poison the whole program!"

"Maybe that's not such a bad idea." Belle said, despite herself. She didn't like Jones, not one bit, but he was a former pilot and they could use all the help they got. She took her husband aside and silently talked to him. Explained that the tests had been quite disastrous, and that they needed more people. That Killian could be a chance at a new team - something they so desperately needed. And that he probably wasn't able to pilot now, with one hand only.

"All right, you can try. But make one move that I don't like and you're out."

Killian half-smiled, victorious and spoke to the crowd that had formed around them.

"Now, who of you brave soldiers is brave enough to challenge to a duel?"

Emma smiled and took two steps forward.

"Ah, Swan. I was hoping it'd be you."

A/N: Hope you liked! Any comments/opinions?

You know you want to review!


	3. Chapter 3

A big crowd formed to watch them fight. Some people even made improptu bets, for one side or another. While most of them betted for Emma, who was practically a legend and completely motivated, some of them voted for their resident pirate. Because they knew what Killian was capable of, even if he only had one hand. And he wasn't one to hold himself off.

The expectation was big, but it paid off.

It wasn't an easy fight, or a short one. Jones knew how to move, he was quick. His style was sneaky, subtle, alomost silent. It kept the oppnent in tension the whole time, trying to figure out what his next move would be.

So Emma had to fight, much more than she thought, to get the upper hand. Her way of doing things was more staightforward, more to the point. Which made winning this a challenge. She didn't care. The harder the fight, the sweeter the victory. And this pirate was making her sweat to get it. Well, he could have been good but she was better.

They fought for a while, both trying to exploit the other's weak points, both trying to lead that strange dance - which led to a strange but kind of stable ballance. As different as their styles were, they complemented each other. It was a fair fight.

And so when she finished outpowering him, she did so with a smile.

"Not bad there, Jones."

"You bested me. Not many people can do that."

"I'm not most people."

And she helped him up and looked at him, properly, in the eyes. This was someone who had been through a lot of shit, she could tell. Someone who'd had trouble swallowing everything and getting over it. But someone more than definitely interesting.

"See you around, Swan."

Very interesting indeed.

Dinner was a great moment for Ruby because a lot of people she knew gathered for her birthday. And they even made her a cake and all. They joked, they ate too much, they remembered funny stories. Still, it was a bit sad. Every birthday there were less people to celebrate it with. And this year very important people were missing. Gone.

But now she had a new project, something to take her head out of the darkness. She was going to make it right. She was going to help end this fight for good, redeem herself, forget all the crap from the past. Or at least start to forget it, have a reason to look at herself and be more proud of who she saw. But still... there were some things...

She went to the Red Wolf, that wonder made just for her.

She found Victor there, cleaning up the place.

"Hey, I thought you went to bed after dinner!" She told the scientist.

"I had to do this first." He smiled.

Ruby held out two chairs.

"Sit with me?"

He finished a couple of things and did indeed sit with her.

"It's about the pilot thing."

"Something wrong?"

"I just... there were some people that were nice, but... You know, there's things of me, and my past that they'd see if we drifted. Things I don't want them to see. I don't want my partner to be afraid of me, you know."

Victor thought about it. It was a problem, but surely that wasn't going to stop her.

"So, what are you going to do about it?"

"Well, there's someone who I wouldn't mind drifting with. Someone who knows me, who trusts me and who'd be a great pilot because he knows everything about the Jaeger."

"Ruby, if you're suggesting I..."

"Yes, I'm suggesting you, Victor, and I want you to hear me out. This" she said, pointing at the robot. "this is something of you and me. Ours. And it should be us in it, not some stranger."

"It would be a disaster, Ruby, I would be a disaster. All I've done out there is fail - I can't, I can't go back again. In the lab I can do good. Out there, I'm a failure - and... and I don't want to drag you down with me."

"We won't fail if we're together! You, me and that beauty making up for past mistakes! It's a wonderful chance to start over, Victor, I want to take it. With you."

"I'm a scientist, Ruby, not a fighter." He insisted. This was a bad idea but he knew Ruby was going to insist. But it was so so bad.

"But that's what will be so good about us! With my fighting skills and your science we can be doubly efficient. And you've seen your family doing this a long time, studied their moves. You know how it's done, like I do."

"Ruby..."

"If you don't want to do this because it scares you or if you think it's gonna give you more nightmares or that you don't want to do it, then fine. I accept your choice. But if you don't want to come because you're afraid you'll fail, or because you din't think you're good enough, that you're going to get me killed then forget that.'Cos it's not true."

He thought about it for a while. It was probably not that complicated a choice, but he was very conflicted. On the hand, he was not a fighter, he was a scientist and he didn't know how to fight like Gerhardt had known. Sure, he knew the basics and yes, he controlled the Jaegers and every feature (he'd put them there!) but being right there, in the middle of the war...That was something completely different. What if he screwed up? What if he forze? What if he wasn't to think properly and caused a whole new level of diaster?

But on the other hand, it was Ruby asking. To do this together - to do this with her. Because she'd rather be with him than with a stranger. Victor wasn't sure he could say no to that. And besides, it was a chance to do some good - a chance to honor his brother and father, continue their work. Be someone better - not just a monster, a heroic one. With her. It sounded good but...

"I don't know if I can do it, Ruby."

"Of course you can. You made this, you've saved hundreds of people since you started working here, you can do this, - if you want."

There was silence. Ruby had known that he wouldn't be on board since the first moment, but still. She had hoped.

"I'll give you time to think, ok? I'll see you in the morning." She says, getting up to leave. It was a big decision. Probably better to think it through.

"Sweet dreams, Ruby."

"Sweet dreams, you."  
_

Killian was having a shower, considering his choices.

What had gotten him? Only a week ago, all of him was set on getting revenge, making Gold pay. That was why he came here, why he stayed, what he'd been planning for years. And now... What was he doing? Changing everything just because some woman had seemed interesting? Because some woman had appreciated the Jolly? (Well, she was obviously not just some woman, but...)

Since when was he so easily swayed? Ah, but there hadn't been much female presence in his life since Milah and maybe it was taking its toll.

And hey, maybe in a Jaeger he could still get Rvenge. A better revenge. Something that made him a hero and thus made his voice matter. A voice that could denounce all those lies. All those lives lost, all those lives ruined. An that saviour woman would help him get there, help him achieve what he wanted.

Ah, Swan. She was a though lass, that much was clear. And something told him that their story had just begun.

He got out of the shower, put on some pants and took a drink from his flask. It had been an eventful day, indeed.

There was a knock on the door, distracting him form his thoughts.

Swan.

"Hello there, sailor. Get the Jolly ready, we're drifting tomorrow morning nine sharp."

Killian grinned.

"As you wish."

A/N: Please do review! Hope you enjoyed!


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